This invention relates to an ornamental finger ring provided with means for adjusting the finger opening size to insure a snug fit during regular wear and to accommodate easy and comfortable passing of the band over the enlarged knuckle as the ring is placed on the finger of the wearer.
It has long been recognized that the knuckle of the ring finger is larger than the phalanx or shank of the finger bone, plus the muscle and skin thereon, closest to the palm. In persons afflicted with arthritis the size difference is sometimes so great that it is virtually impossible for the arthritic person to wear an ornamental finger ring comfortably. The problem is that an ornamental ring shank having a sufficiently large opening to pass over an arthritic knuckle is so loose on the finger when in normal wearer position adjacent to the palm that it rotates on the finger to an undesirable position which interferes with ordinary use of the hand and too often fails to maintain the setting in an upright, exposed position.
The problem is one of long standing and many proposals for constricting the ring band after it has been slipped over the knuckle have been made. In the 1874 U.S. Patent to Annin, No. 152,789, a clip on filler secured by clips embracing the edges of the ring and pressed into indentations in the inner face of the ring was proposed and patented.
Other devices directed toward solving the same problem are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,218,826, 3,360,959 and 3,483,718; all of these devices constrict the opening in the band but provide externally visible, band-contour-changing add on means which detrimentally affect the ornamental appearance of the ring. Other references known to applicant which appear to be less pertinent include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,281,231 and 3,204,426.
The primary object of this invention is to provide an ornamental ring having internal means for adjusting the size of the finger opening, after passing over the knuckle, to a selectable, comfortable snug fit without unsightly external projections or detrimental effect on the ornamental appearance of the ring either in the show case or on the hand of the wearer.
A secondary object is to provide means for adjusting the size of the finger opening in an ornamental ring having a conventional-appearing circular band which is easily and positively adjustable by the wearer to constrict the opening or increase its size for removal of the ring over a knuckle.